Sharp Edge Part II The First Chisel
Ive finally setup my Sharp Edge sharpening system and I was able to use it to sharpen a 1/2" chisel.
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| The Sharp Edge and its components. |
My initial results are positive, if conditional.
Setting up the Sharp Edge is easy. First I made a small platform out of scrap wood which I screwed the Sharp Edge too. The platform was then clamped into my end vise to lock the Sharp Edge down.
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| The board on the bottom is easily clamped. |
Then I Just set the angle, stick in the appropriate diamond stone into the magnetic holder and add the spacer to center the blade and your done. It takes but a few seconds.
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| Now the Sharp Edge is ready to go. |
The first thing I noted when sharpening the chisel was that the edge of the chisel was out of square. That mean I began with the 200 grit stone and worked it for a while, until the marker I had placed on the tip was worn off all the way across. This resulted in a rather large area, so I then adjusted the angle up slightly to 27
° or 28°.
Form there I went through the included grits of 200, 400, 800 and 1500 grit stones followed by 9 micron file, 5 micron film and 3 micron film. Between each grit, I placed the stone in the included holder and de-burred the back of the chisel.
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| The chisel was hard to focus on, but the marker is sharpened off. |
Though it took longer than expected, the result was a very sharp chisel. I suspect the time taken was due to the chisel having been out of square. The Sharp Edge is really a honing tool after and not really for shaping. If the blade is already square and simply needs to be re-honed, I suspect the Sharp Edge will be lightening quick.
I will continue to use the Sharp Edge and will post Part III once Ive had some time to run a number of blades through it.
You can learn more about the Sharp Edge here.Dont forget about the +Modern Woodworkers Association Podcast. We talk woodworking with Guests from around the world of woodworking every other week. Subscribe to the RSS feed or iTunes today.
Sharp Edge Part II The First Chisel
